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A Super Sunday Starting Lineup

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By WALT BELCHER wbelcher

@tampatrib.com

Published: January 30, 2009

It's always best to prepare for the unexpected, but here's a rundown of what you might expect on TV for Super Bowl Sunday:

8 a.m. ESPN Classic: Start your day of football reverently with the "Super Bowl Gospel Celebration," a concert taped Friday at the University of South Florida Sun Dome featuring more than 40 NFL players, gospel stars and a tribute to Tony Dungy.

9 a.m. NBC: The "Today" show beams in live from near the Pirate Ship in Raymond James Stadium with Meredith Vieira, Ann Curry and Al Roker showing off the joys of Tampa with Ronde and Tiki Barber.

10 a.m. ESPN: Chris Berman and the ESPN crew begin a four-hour "Countdown" special live from Tampa. "NBC may have the game but we have everything leading up to it," Berman says.

10 a.m. WFTS, Channel 28: The locally produced two-hour special "Tampa Bay's Got Game" recaps the festivities across the Tampa area leading up to today.

11 a.m. WTSP, Channel 10: This local special also looks at Tampa's role in the Super Bowl.

12 p.m. NBC: The network's pregame show begins with the NFL Films recap of the season with the top players, top plays, best sound bites and best games of 2008.

1-6 p.m. NBC: Super Bowl pregame continues with Matt Lauer's live interview with President Barack Obama; Bob Costas interviews Bruce Springsteen. There will be reports from the Arizona Cardinals and Pittsburgh Steelers locker rooms with Keith Olbermann, Tiki Barber, Cris Collingsworth, Dan Patrick and Jerome Bettis.

There will be additional commentary and reporting from Peter King, Tony Dungy, Mike Holmgren, Matt Millen and Rodney Harrison as well as Andrea Kremer.

Also Roker reports from the red carpet at a Super Bowl party with stars of NBC shows.

3-5 p.m. Animal Planet: The fifth annual Puppy Bowl offers an alternative to super madness with cute pups on the field and kittens during halftime.

6 p.m. NBC: Coverage of Super Bowl XLIII begins. Kick off is scheduled for 6:18 p.m.

Former "American Idol" and "Dreamgirls" star Jennifer Hudson will sing the National Anthem. Country star Faith Hill will sing "America The Beautiful." U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus will do the coin toss. Also, U.S. Airways pilot Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger and the crew from Flight 1549 will be honored.

Al Michaels and John Madden will call the action. "This is my 11th Super Bowl and I still get excited about the drama," says Madden, the 72-year-old who left coaching in 1978.

He becomes the first person to broadcast the game for all four networks.

Halftime: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band and about 2,000 extras will take the field for a 12-minute halftime show. The Boss hasn't said what songs he will perform.

Commercials: There will be nearly 60 commercials including the first ever in 3-D: a 30-second trailer for the animated movie "Monsters vs. Aliens" coming out in March and a commercial for PepsiCo's Sobe Lifewater energy drinks.

For the first time in a decade, no U.S. automaker will advertise during the most-watched U.S. sports event. But Germany-based Audi has one featuring action actor Jason Statham.

With 41/2 minutes of advertising time, brewer Anheuser-Busch will feature Clydesdale horses, Conan O'Brien and either the Bud Light Lime or Budweiser American Ale brands.

10:30 p.m. NBC: A special hourlong episode of "The Office" follows the postgame wrap-up (the time is approximate).

Dwight (Rainn Wilson) stages a fake fire drill that results in chaos for the staff (watch what happens to the cat) and a heart attack for one.

Fearing he is the cause of office stress, Michael (Steve Carell) forces the staff to throw him a roast with pathetic results. Jessica Alba, Jack Black and Cloris Leachman appear as characters in a bootleg art film that Pam (Jenna Fischer) and Jim (John Krasinski) are watching.

Reporter Walt Belcher can be reached at (813) 259-7654 or wbelcher@tampatrib.com.

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